Stargate: Dark Frontier 2x05 Exposed to the Light
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: Reyna's always been calm despite the storms around her. But with a captured Shade, she's going to be getting into the nitty gritty once more. A week in the life of Reyna Arius and her relationships and work... and all the craziness it involves.
1. Chapter 1

**Stargate: Dark Frontier**

**Season 2**

**Episode 5 – Exposed to the Light**

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_371 Days IHO_

_63 Days AOI_

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For information on season 1, go to

http(COLON)//sg-darkfrontier(DOT)wikia(DOT)com/wiki/Stargate(COLON)_Dark_Frontier_Wiki

**Previously on Dark Frontier:** _The Travelers have been the main force behind Atlantis's renewal and continued survival, They're the technicians, they're the workers, and one in particular is a lead Doctor._

_Reyna's got a lot to do this week. Check up on her patients, help out with projects already in progress, do a biological study on a captured Shade… It just never ends!_

_Her life is exciting and interesting. But that's not necessarily a good thing, or what she may want._

* * *

**Aleron:** Do you mind?

**Reyna:** Just be careful.

**Aleron:** _Rrraaahhh!_

**Reyna:** Uhh… _wow!_

**Aleron:** _That_… was satisfying.

* * *

In the main hospital office where all records were kept, and the punch clock for the staff was, Carson lifted his head upon hearing the door slide open. Reyna Arius stepped through dressed in her typical darker clothing with her leather uniform.

Reyna looked around. The office environment was relatively cozy, most of the paperwork was scanned in and kept in computerized records, but a single file cabinet remained for long-term patients. The typical brownish orange of the saw few people around, and nodded to Carson. Carson nodded gently back, and motioned for her to come closer. Reyna walked over to the punch clock, tapped in her five digit code, and then hung her jacket before going to the desk where Carson sat reviewing progress reports on their patients. "Hey, how you doing?"

Carson smirked softly and shrugged. "Same as always, paperwork, lab work, clinical work."

Reyna smirked back and deadpanned. "Sounds like you're drowning in it."

Chortling, Carson reached over to grab his tea on the side of the desk. "You've been watching too many movies."

Picking up her tablet from the desk, Reyna said. "Well, Chuck _did_ put them on the main Atlantis database. I can only go for walks in the gardens and the city so much before I get bored."

Carson rolled his eyes. "Dear, you get bored walking from patient to patient."

They both laughed, mostly because it was true, and Reyna sighed as she leaned back. "We could always go fishing again."

Carson shrugged. "It'd have to be offworld. I'm not too comfortable cleaning fish of _radiation."_

Snickering, Reyna began to get up, ready to start her day. "You know we deal with it all the time. A leaky reactor is nothing big when you've got anti-radiation equipment."

Carson raised an eyebrow in a chiding manner. "Just because you're wearing gloves doesn't mean you should juggle knives."

Reyna's eyebrows shot up in excitement. "Oh! That sounds like fun! Chuck might know how to do that."

Palming his forehead, Carson simply chuckled and shook his head. "Go! Leave me be with my drowning. We need to talk about the Shade later but for now just do your rounds. I'll be in the lab checking up on our latest batch."

Reyna snickered to herself and moved off. She enjoyed this kind of camaraderie, simple and to the point.

* * *

"Seriously?"

Reyna shook her head and squeezed Alicia's shoulder. "You're not that bad off. Just make sure you rest and let the steroid do its job and you'll feel just fine in a few days."

Alicia shifted in her bed again, she wasn't exactly enjoying her stay in the hospital since her fight with the Shade and subsequent orbital drop, but at least it was sleep she was catching up on. These crazy Traveler steroids derived from the Olim Medical database felt like her body was on fire, but she _was_ healing.

The private room she'd been moved to had some amenities, but she had little control over it. Alicia whined. "Can you at least bring me my X-Box? Or something other than Bugs Bunny on TV?"

With a mock serious face, Reyna shook her head. "Laughter is the best medicine."

Alicia stared back with an equally mock serious face. "Then put on 40 Year Old Virgin."

Reyna got a somewhat disgusted face on. "Eww... you like seeing guys get the hair ripped out of their chest?"

Chortling, Alicia couldn't help it and laughed out loud, drawing out some more pain from her sore muscles. "Yes! I can't believe you don't find that funny! Steve Carrel is _awesome!"_

Reyna simply rolled her eyes; there were some things from Earth she understood, and others she just plain didn't. "I'll see what I can do but at the very least you need to rest. I know they're going back up to the station today with a full science team and with any luck, we might even be able to inhabit it."

Alicia stared at Reyna pedantically. Obviously, she was less than interested. "As much as I'd love to live in a castle in the sky, I think Atlantis is already close enough. Plus the farther I am from that… _thing,_ the better."

Reyna gave Alicia another rub of her shoulder and then tapped a few buttons on her tablet. "Alright, I've put your release date at later tonight. You'll be in your own bed tonight instead of bugging me."

Alicia snickered. "Like you don't come begging to watch a movie often enough. I swear it's never taken me 3 hours to watch Zoolander."

With an exasperated look, Reyna whined. "I didn't get it! Why were they spraying each other with hydrocarbons? I didn't get that good looking guys, and that's debatable in that movie, are supposed to be stupid!"

Alicia laughed even more, Reyna could almost be more amusing than the comedies she so enjoyed. "Ben Stiller is ugly, but Derek Zoolander is _hawt."_

Rolling her eyes, Reyna turned around and gave a parting shot. "I'll see you later, Leesha. Have fun dreaming of Ben Stiller."

Alicia snickered back, but before Reyna could leave, she called out. "Rey! Wait!" Reyna stopped and turned to Alicia, the Major suddenly had a somewhat dejected look. "Can you do me one small favor?"

"Uhh okay."

Alicia sighed and rubbed her forehead. "If you see… _Aleron…"_ She said his name with a somewhat odd tone. "…Can you tell him to come see me?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What happened to 'That prissy Cyclops'?"

Alicia groaned softly and bowed her head. She snickered softly and said. "Please? I'm humiliated enough having to wear scrubs, if you _do _see him though, could you get me some clothes that cover my ass?"

Reyna giggled softly and shrugged playfully. "If I get the time."

_"REY!"_

Laughing, Reyna nodded. "I'll see what I can do. No promises though."

Shrugging, Alicia turned away. "Doesn't matter much, but I guess I should just get it over with as soon as possible."

Alicia was obviously aggravated, and seeing as Reyna was already standing, she decided to tease her friend a little more. "Should I tell him to come armed?"

"_REY!"_

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* * *

_

Standing in the medical storage room picking out supplies, Reyna carefully picked out a small container that had been rated to handle high levels of acid from the top shelf. This was going to be so fascinating.

Reyna had heard of life existing in other elemental forms, but to actually study a live Silicon based lifeform? The possibilities were too many to count! The Wraith had long ago worked out how to make organic ships and such, but neither the Travelers nor the Lanteans before them had figured out how to do the same. They were just so different that it would take a very deliberate study to find out.

The Shade Gremlin had been chained down; Ronon and his men had kept very quiet about the capture and had repurposed a small warehouse room on one of the outer piers for this study. The Council had secretly decided to study the Shade for all it was worth, and they'd just as silently chosen Reyna to do this study.

She understood why it was so secretive. Carson had made it very clear several months ago that he wanted nothing to do with examining the Shade if it meant that information would be put to combative use. Reyna didn't really understand why, especially given the destructive capabilities of the Shade.

So now, as she left the storage room with her prepared bag of equipment, Reyna knew that as long as she stayed quiet, she'd have quite an interesting time over the next few days.

"So Drake tells me you wanted to see me?"

Turning at the eloquent voice, Reyna noticed Aleron waiting outside, his back leaning on the wall. He was dressed in his Olim Robe, which looked shockingly similar to the Lantean ones she knew from old, except his was a dark brown and somewhat flowing near the bottom. She had gotten used to his blue eyepatch and after watching so many Earth Cartoons, she found it quite dashing. "Aleron. Have you been waiting long?" She motioned to the lock on the door which would only open for certain people.

Aleron shrugged and stretched his gloved hands. "No, still a little sore from the crash but I'll manage. Like I said, Drake said you wanted to see me."

Reyna nodded and motioned with her head as she often did. "Walk and talk?"

Aleron pushed off the wall, carefully slowing down as he approached the jamb of the hallway intersection. Seeing Reyna give him a worried look, he explained. "Carson says I'm having trouble with depth perception. I can't tell you how many things I've bumped into."

Having heard oodles of mentions from Alicia, Reyna hooked her arm around his and began to lead him nonchalantly. "Well don't worry; I'm not going to let you walk into a wall like _some_ people." Seeing Aleron only mildly amused, she remembered what Alicia had asked her. "Oh on that note, Alicia asked me to ask you to come see her."

Aleron raised an eyebrow in surprised and followed Reyna's guidance into the transporter. "Really?" The flash of the transporter came and went, and he deadpanned. "Should I bring a gun?"

Reyna chuckled heartily and tugged Aleron along. "I said the same. She said no. I think she may _actually _want to apologize."

Stroking his chin, Aleron now seemed _quite_ amused. "I'll have to ask Ronon to let me record our conversation. A moment in history." He enjoyed hearing Reyna's laugh, but knew there must have been something else. "That's not why you asked Drake to come find me was it?"

Reyna shook her head. "No, I wanted to ask you a few things. I'm going to examine the Shade we captured from the station in orbit and I was wondering what you knew about them."

Aleron remained silent for a bit, an old conversation with John came to mind and he decided to be honest. "Truthfully, not much you wouldn't already know. I know a fair amount about biology, but it's not something I've dedicated my life to."

"That brings up another question. I hope you don't think it's too personal, but I was wondering if you could explain what you could about Olim physiology. I've looked over our scans of you and there's nothing that would explain how you can do what you do." Pulling him away from the wall, she kept Aleron from bumping into a rather large plant. "At least when you're in combat."

Aleron snorted softly, almost as if he were just amused by such a complex question. "Yes, my 'DareDevil' moments. Sheppard explained that it's meant as both a compliment and insult given how bad the original reference material is."

Reyna blinked in confusion for a moment, and stepped out into the open air walkway to the warehouse she was heading to. "You mean the movie? I actually liked it. I don't see why the Earthers don't like it; They _made_ it."

Aleron again chuckled. "They're quite strange. You can never tell exactly what's on their minds because they make such an effort to hide their thoughts and feelings."

Seeing that Aleron was changing the subject, Reyna nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Looks like they're rubbing off on you." Giving him a pointed stare, she reminded Aleron of the question.

Aleron nodded and relented. "Ah yes, it's not a matter of 'magic'. It's biology. I'm not an expert but I do know that with our higher brain processing power, I can react to things much faster during a moment of instinct than when I'm at rest."

"Moment of instinct? You mean when you get excited?"

Aleron shrugged and said. "You could call it that. I explained it to Sheppard who asked most of the questions you're likely to ask now. Carson confirmed it with his original scans of Aquilina. When an Olim with a high level of activated brain neurons such as myself am… _excited._ Our adrenal gland produces a synergistic effect on our senses. In essence, it's not just me. _Any_ Olim in my situation would be able to do the things I do."

Reyna raised an eyebrow in mild alarm. "Why haven't you told us this before?"

Another shrug, Aleron seemed quite pleased to remain so aloof. "You never asked. Sheppard did. Besides, it's only the higher level Centaurans and Telarions that have enough activated neurons to feel any reasonable effect."

Entering the new tower, at the base of which the warehouse was, Reyna again guided Aleron down the hall to keep him from bumping into the odd jutting out section. "That reminds me. You've never fully explained how your houses work except to Daniel. Would you mind?"

Aleron was quite entertained by this. Sheppard had clearly told him that while he trusted him, there were a great many people who didn't. So that left Aleron in the unique position of knowing that he was going to be questioned and interrogated from all side and using different tactics. Feeling Reyna's supple arm around his despite through two layers of clothing told him she was either quite naïve, or very smooth with her operations. "As Sheppard says 'in a nutshell', Centaurons remain the most advanced in culture. We are educated to serve as anything the Olim require from scientific to military forces. We're isolated from the rest of the houses because of this, but most of us simply don't care."

Now heading down a long flight of stairs. Reyna added. "So are you all related?"

Aleron let out a hearty laugh. "Ha-ha! You're not the first to ask and I still find it hilarious. No, not in the sense that you're thinking. We're related in that we have an original ancestor, Promius Centaurus, an Alterran. A common ancestor mixed in with a varied genetic makeup."

Turning to him again, Reyna kept her sweet quizzitive voice. "So each House started with an Ancestor? That's incredible. My own people have stories of such things happening but it was almost taboo for an ancestor to breed with one of us. I think they felt like we would taint their lineage."

Aleron felt like saying something, but kept his chide to himself. Instead he smiled back and nodded. "From what I understand of the history, Promius and his fellow Alterrans did so willingly. We've maintained records from back then but admittedly, I and most of my people don't examine them very well." He smirked and turned to Reyna. "Actually, before she left, Larrin explained that your own people are very stringent with your birth control. With only seven thousand, it requires some doing to keep a clean genetic slate."

A simple concept, Reyna had learned exactly how it worked. "Yeah, usually we don't intermarry on our home ships. That's one of the reasons we travel in groups. It still happens, but usually we rotate over the years depending on how much space we have."

Nearing the warehouse, Reyna could see a pair of Ronon's guards standing at attention at the doorway, One held one of those giant Earth based Rocket Launchers, and the other a heavy looking machine gun. Reyna held up her free hand signaling that it was okay that Aleron was there. They lowered their weapons but kept a wary eye on the Olim.

Reyna gave them both slightly disapproving looks, and moved onto another subject she was curious about. It was a pleasant change to speak to someone who, while having secrets, wasn't giving her the runaround like Dan or Alicia did. "Do you mind if I ask you some more?"

Aleron turned so his eye faced her. His voice was mildly amused. "You can _ask_." With that, he told her that he just might not answer.

Reyna accepted that and led them both into the medical sterilization room. A low level radiation scan would eliminate any germs on them. Aleron simply went with the flow and let go of Reyna's arm, both now moving to the individual sterilization units. "Why do you wear gloves all the time? I've noticed you hardly ever take them off even when you're not doing something that requires them."

Aleron stepped into the unit, allowed the water shielded panel to close around him, and loudly answered. "It helps me concentrate without the noise!"

Reyna stepped into her own sterilization unit and allowed the harmless to human level of radiation to clean her clothes and skin. Typically there would be people around, maintaining the units and the other equipment in the entry room to the warehouse, but with the Shade being such a secret on the Council's orders, only the command staff, the Earthers involved, and Ronon knew about it. As far as she knew, only about a dozen of Ronon's trained men and women were actually guarding the Shade.

She stepped out and saw Aleron already waiting, his hand rubbed the side of his face where his eyepatch had irritated him. With a calm and collected voice, Reyna said. "Noise? You mean your senses are so finely tuned you can hear the reverberation through your finger bones?"

Aleron laughed, this Traveler Doctor had a creative mind and certainly was a much funnier companion than Alicia. At least he wasn't being threatened every few minutes. "No, but that's the best guess I've heard so far." He motioned for Reyna to take the lead, and she did so, leading them down into the basement of the room where a specially designed carbon built prison cell that used bars instead of forcefields to hold its occupants had been hastily built. "You know the Olim are telepathic?"

Reyna shrugged. "To a degree. Our ancestors were much stronger telepaths but from what Carson's told me, they were only about twice as evolved as you yourself."

Aleron couldn't tell if she was insulting him or just stating a fact, so he ignored the quip as she led him down into the basement. "At my level, when I come into physical contact with another being, I can sense their emotions much clearer due to the conductivity of our neural impulses."

Reyna stopped, contemplated that for a second, and then turned to Aleron again. "Pardon? Conductivity? Neural impulses are so small in current and voltage that it's hard to pick up without sensitive equipment. How does that work?"

Explaining it to Sheppard had been confusing enough, at least this time, he had an idea that the woman might understand. "It's hard to explain without you having experienced it, but perhaps this will help. If someone you liked, say Carson, were to give you a hug, how would it feel?"

A simple if somewhat personal question, Reyna was willing to answer as long as she got her answer. "That'd be nice."

Aleron decided to play a little closer to home that usual, but it seemed appropriate given Reyna's straightforwardness. "And if I were to hug you, how would you feel?"

Reyna winced slightly and hesitated a second to reply. "Uncomfortable… Sorry."

Shaking his head, Aleron waved the apology of. "No need, I know my place. But perhaps with that you can understand what I mean."

Reyna let the clocks in her head start ticking, and slowly the gears came to a full revolution. "So… what you're saying is. When Carson hugs me, the fact that we're friends means we're sharing good feelings, but since I don't really know you, if we were to hug I'd get uncomfortable feelings from you?"

Sighing, Aleron slowed down as they finally reached the end of the stairway that led to the main amphitheater room where the Shade was being kept. "No, it's complicated. But suffice it to say that when you hug Carson, you're both thinking 'positive' thoughts and feelings. Should you hug me, I think it would be uncertain and frankly, awkward. Those feelings would contribute to the discomfort."

It _was_ confusing, but Reyna could wait a bit to figure it out. She had to concentrate on something else now. "I'd love to talk more about this later. Maybe you can come by my office later and we can go into detail."

To Reyna's surprise, Aleron receded a bit. "I think not. I've already told you as much as I've told Sheppard. It's not a simple subject matter for even my own people and…" Uncharacteristically bashful, Aleron rubbed the back of his head. "I _will_ tell you what I know of the Shade though."

Reyna was a little disappointed. She figured that being nice to Aleron would help him to open up. To a degree he had, but the success was limited. "Fair enough. You can ask me anything about the Travelers you'd like as well. I know Larrin was a little rough on you but I'm more interested in your culture and biology."

Aleron scoffed as the door opened, revealing one last small hallway before the examination room. "Perfect, my two least favorite subjects."

They both smiled at the mild joke, and walked the rest in silence. Another pair of armed guards were waiting inside, and soon enough, they'd both entered the room with the Shade.

The creature was chained down, heavy carbon steel links strained to hold down the tremendously strong creature, but in its weakened state, it wasn't likely to go anywhere. Reyna knew that given its injuries, it would likely die soon. So she first needed to nurse it back to enough health that her study wouldn't cause it enough harm to kill it.

Aleron stiffened upon seeing the Shade, Reyna noticed as she gloved up and began to examine the different supplies she'd asked for including high concentration acids and different silica materials. She asked. "Something wrong?"

"No." Aleron didn't break his gaze on the Shade, the creature still vainly trying to break the chains that held it down so effectively. "Yes. This is the first time I've been this close to a Shade without my armor."

Reyna could sort of understand. Aleron had been fighting them for years, how many she didn't know since he refused to give his age, but it had likely been a long time. "I thought your people captured Shade before?"

Aleron nodded. "Mostly smaller ones, The one I showed Carson on Beta Telemite was left over from the battle of Magna Secundus, we found it sheltered inside the broken husk of a Class 3 Shade." Aleron moved closer to the Shade, the creature hissing slightly. Off to the side, 6 fully armed soldiers stood at attention, some chatting with each other but all keeping a very wary eye on both the Shade and Olim. "This one is a fully grown Class 2… and different."

Reyna finally found an acid concentration she liked, and began to pour it into a beaker she could take over to the Shade. "How so?"

Now a mere three feet from the Shade ,Aleron played with his hands as he replied. "I can feel it. It's much stronger than the minds of most Shade I can feel. Very strange."

Turning around, Reyna was a little surprised to see Aleron standing so close. "Okay… That's somewhere to start." She saw him eyeing it and finally chided. "Is there some reason you're so close?"

Aleron turned to Reyna and have a strange look on his face. "There's something I've always wanted to do. Never had the chance up until now. Do you mind?"

Seeing that earning the Olim's trust would be beneficial, Reyna hesitated a second and laid the ground rules. "Just be careful."

Aleron gave a strange sort of smirk, and turned back to the Shade, he silently took his right glove off and shoved it into his pocket. Reyna for a second was worried that he might try and do some kind of telepathic communication, which while interesting, she wasn't in any condition to record.

So it came as a shock to her when Aleron moved up to the bars, and flung his fist through the opening directly into the Shade's face. "_Rrraaahhh__!"_

Aleron's fist cracked against the Shade, sending the creature back a mere inch as its restraints held it down. Aleron growled and rubbed his fist, his knuckles having drawn blood from the strike.

Reyna watched as he turned to face her. She dumbfoundedly muttered. "Uhh… _wow!"_

Smirking, Aleron replied as he shook the pain from his limp and bleeding hand . "_That_… was satisfying."

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	2. Chapter 2

There was something about biology that always interested Reyna, maybe it was the fact that it involved everyone and just about everything. Organic material was the only thing that could affect the flow of events, and it was the only thing that could feel emotions. As far as she knew anyways.

Having woken up ready to face a day of little work other than the Shade, she was a little surprised to see Sam and John walk in wearing their leather uniforms. John had a rather dark right eye that looked like he'd been punched. Reyna immediately moved towards them and deadpanned. "Sparring accident or did John say something stupid?"

Sam snorted softly and John gave Reyna a sarcastic look. "Oh _perfect_, I just can't get a break today, can I?" He held the side of his head, obviously in pain.

Reyna winced now that she could see the injury clearly. "Well then, how did you get it?"

"I kinda elbowed him." Sam grimaced and smiled meekly.

"Should I ask?" Reyna raised an eyebrow.

Both John and Sam gave her pointed looks telling her that the unspoken assumption was wrong. Then again Reyna had heard quite a bit of juicy gossip about this pair and knew she didn't need to say much. Sam shook her head vehemently. "I was working the scans we got from the weapon on the space station and John wanted to take a look. I spun around in my chair a little fast and…"

"_Thwack."_ John deadpanned the end of the sentence. "Figures, I ride a piece of ancient junk down from orbit and end up fine, only to get a black eye from the lady that saved me." Sam ironically elbowed him in the side playfully in defense. John held up his hands in surrender. "Please, I can't take anymore. Just give me a steak and I'll be fine."

Reyna rolled her eyes in a snort and motioned with her head. "Come on, I'll make sure there's no eye damage." She pointed over to an examination room, and John silently moved over.

Sam sighed softly and gave John a sympathetic smile as he walked away. "Figures, he's just a magnet for injury."

Reyna shrugged and turned to Sam. "There's always a few people like that. Daniel's another. I had to set his finger the other day when he tripped down the stairs!" Hearing Sam's small laugh, Reyna decided to ask something that had been on her mind for awhile. "You know, not that I'm complaining or anything. But you two are pretty much the only EarthBorn that come right to me. Everyone else usually goes straight to Carson."

Sam lost a bit of her smile and tried to look nonchalant. "Well… not that I don't trust him but you know. I don't really know him beyond what I've been told."

"Well, you could say the same about me. You've only known _me_ for less than a year."

Sam gave a quick look around, and saw that no one could hear them. "It's complicated. I'd have to explain it all but… While I trust Carson's judgment, I'm just not…_comfortable_ with him being my personal doctor."

Reyna had seen this before, and she even accepted it as part of her job. "You don't like male Doctors."

Shrugging almost as if it were an afterthought, Sam replied. "You could say that."

It seemed strange. Sam was obviously not comfortable with Carson, but Reyna just couldn't place it. She decided to just let bygones be bygones, and started to walk over to where John was waiting impatiently.

* * *

"I'm sure she appreciates you being here."

Ronon growled softly, he'd just arrived while Reyna was changing Dusty's IVs, and Reyna always tried to get Ronon to speak about this. She worried about Ronon showing up and telling Dusty about everything going on.

"Since you're here, you may as well know, Sam just told me that she's gotten the VR training almost ready for your people. She wants you to test it first since John thinks you'll want to make sure it'll work."

Ronon shrugged, it seemed he was waiting for her to finish up and leave. "I'll be there."

Reyna had never really gotten to know Ronon that well. When he was _on_ Atlantis, he spent most of his time with John and Dusty. Now, he was more open but that didn't really mean much to Reyna. He usually went to Carson.

"I'm worried about her too, Ronon. I really wish she'd just wake up…"

Ronon didn't reply, simply sat and watched Dusty. Reyna had thought about what Carson had said about their two cultures being similar, but she couldn't bring herself to understand how hearing about the day's events would help someone in Dusty's situation. She'd rather hear about how much she was missed, what the person feels about her, Things that would cheer her up.

Leaving quietly now that the job was done, Reyna left Ronon who'd once again cut his hair to a short and stylish style. She had to admit, without the wild mane, he actually looked quite distinguished and military.

* * *

"Rey? Hello?"

Reyna sighed, not that she wasn't glad Rafaela had arrived to her office, but she always had the habit of showing up right when she was head deep in something. "One minute!"

Rafaela looked around Reyna's office. There were at least a dozen strange doohickeys around the somewhat Spartan office that she had _absolutely_ no idea what they were, which meant a lot seeing as she enjoyed messing around with doohickeys. "Where are you?"

Reyna then popped her head out from the wall behind her desk. "Don't worry, I'm here."

Rafaela now walked around and saw that Reyna had pried open the wall plating and was neck deep in the electronic innards. "Rey? What are you _doing?"_"

With a bemused face, Reyna explained. "It's too hot in here, but when I shut the heat off, the ventilation goes as well. There's no 'middle' setting where I just get air but no heat."

Rafaela chuckled softly and shook her head. "And you didn't call a technician down because…?"

Reyna grimaced and gave up on the crystal control panel. "Because Sam's going to the space station and took all the spare techs! And _you've_ been all over the place!" She gave Rafaela a frustrated look. "I asked Nevas for someone to come down here and he gave me the runaround! He said another _week _for someone to come down here!" She grunted as she pulled herself out. "You'd think the Ancestors could design a system that had some control!"

Rafaela shrugged and knelt down next to Reyna. "It does have control. The system is hooked up to the main sensor array and changes the climate inside to offset the outside climate."

Reyna blinked twice, then shook her head of the confusion. "Okay… so you're telling me that because it's colder than a dark space asteroid out there, it's hot as Core in here?"

Now Rafaela was the confused one. "Pardon? Core?"

Reyna winced and realized that she'd used a 'Travelerism' with an Earther. "Core. As in core of a planet or star? As in it's _hot?_"

Helping her somewhat shorter friend up, Rafaela chuckled at the odd phrase. "That's… weird. I've _never_ heard anything even _remotely_ like that."

Reyna decided to put her knowledge of dozens of watched movies to use. "Well, your people use the phrase 'Hot as hell'. We don't really have a concept of hell, but it's the same place, the core of a planet."

Snorting at the odd and quite confusing conversation, Rafaela held her hands up. "I could debate that, but I give up. I'll make you a deal, help me get a good deal with Claudita and I'm yours for the rest of the day, Sam's going to be testing the VR training we had in storage with Ronon, so I've pretty much got the rest of the day off."

Reyna now smiled, _finally_ things were going her way. "Hmm… getting all dressed up for someone?"

Rafaela shook her head and tugged on her hair. "No, not anyone in particular. Just wanna try and break my 'librarian' style." Reyna raised an eyebrow, and then remembered Dusty's description of Rafaela's tastes.

Reyna decided that it was worth it to hang out with Rafaela for awhile, it was a little surprising that she was opening up more. "Well, I'm supposed to be with Sam and Ronon anyway and make sure no one gets hurt, but it's not for a few hours. We can 'do lunch' and 'have a day at the spa'." She furrowed her brow. "That's how you say that right?"

Rafaela laughed heartily, Reyna was such a nice friend that she wondered if maybe there were aspects of Earth she wouldn't miss. "You've been watching too many movies…"

* * *

"Doesn't Chuck confuse you? He's almost as old as Sheppard you know?"

Reyna sat in the new VR training room, Sam, John, Chuck and Ronon were busy setting up for the first practice run. Sam was adamant that it worked, but she'd had John and Chuck set up a 'training' run for Ronon to attempt. The room had several "inputs" for more than one person to share the VR simulation, but only one was being used. Around them, all sorts of computer equipment lay about ready to do gods knew what.

Sitting beside her was one of Ronon's new Captains, and oddly enough, and old friend of hers. "Roland, Chuck makes _everyone_ confused, it's just who he is." She stared at the technician, awash with an odd sense of curiosity and intrigue. "Sam says it's because he's 'Canadian', which is a nation on their home planet. Apparently everyone there is taught to be nice, polite, and even self-effacing."

Roland turned to Reyna with a strange look in his eyes. "So _Karyan?"_

Reyna giggled, the jokes the Travelers made about the old converted medical ship weren't appropriate right now, so she shushed Roland with a hand on his forearm.

Ahead of the two Travelers, Sam helped Ronon into the VR station, attaching the electrodes to his forehead and neck. Reyna was there just to make sure there was medical aid nearby if needed. "Alright, Comfy?" Ronon glared at Sam incredulously. "Right. Okay, this is just a practice run, you'll have a HUD showing up in your vision giving you tips and pointers, almost like a game would. Those can be taken out to increase the realism but I'd like you to follow the instructions so we can test the system fully. Chuck says he made something that should test most of the system's infantry level abilities, but I'm not sure what he's got planned so be ready for anything."

Ronon nodded to Sam, and then turned to Chuck and John, both whom looked a little _too_ happy with themselves. "Combat?"

Reyna watched as Chuck nonchalantly shrugged and deadpanned. "The greatest action scene of all time in earth film."

John stifled a laugh, but then he shook his head vehemently. "Sorry, Don't worry Ronon, you'll like it."

Roland leaned over to Reyna as Sam chided both men for their obvious evil plans. "I know you've been getting into their culture, but what is it about movies that they like so much? I can't stand them. I'd rather go swimming or even climb a tree. You know, stuff I _don't_ do every other day."

Reyna snickered as Sam continued and finally turned on the VR machine. "It's just a part of them. They're used to being very physical and to them, sitting around is relaxing. Look at how often they're all in the gym or running on the piers." She turned a slightly seductive smile to Roland. "Don't think I haven't noticed _you_ doing more cardio."

Roland snorted in derision, but shifted in his seat as she realized Reyna was complimenting his improved physique. "Aw well… Sheppard's not a bad guy. Him, Ronon and Carter go running almost everyday in the morning. I tag along and get some information on new projects they're doing…" He saw Reyna eyeing him strongly, and quietly whispered. "_I know she's with Sheppard, but who says I can't admire?"_

Reyna giggled and rubbed her old friends shoulder. He wasn't affected by her touch, they'd grown up together on _Navras_ and were used to being in close company. "At least I know I just need to dye my hair blonde for your next birthday."

Roland chuckled, and shook his head idly, Reyna always enjoyed teasing him. "Yeah well, Let's see them try and sit around on a ship for a few years, _then_ we'll see if they like television as much."

Shushing Roland as the test was about to begin, Reyna grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up with her. Moving forward, Reyna sidled up to Chuck and noticed something odd about the large LCD screen that now showed a perspective of Ronon much like a movie would, Ronon was handcuffed inside what looked like some kind of box with wheels, and uniformed men were trying to control him. The area looked dry and hot. "Is that Earth?"

Chuck grinned mischeviously. "Yep, specifically India."

Roland turned to where Ronon lay on the machine, Sam monitoring his brain activity. "So he's seeing all that as if he were there?"

Sam nodded to the Traveler. "We can create anything we need to in order to give the person using it the most realistic practice without actually harming them. It shouldn't be used for extended periods of time, but it could easily give us an opportunity to train without risk."

Roland turned back to the screen, where Ronon had seemingly gone berserk and was fighting off the two men who were holding him captive. "So he's not actually in any danger?"

Sam sighed and then winced seeing the two men attacking Ronon fly out the windows of the paddy wagon. "Not really, but it's _very_ uncomfortable to be injured or killed in the simulation since your brain has trouble telling the difference."

Reyna was enraptured by the action on the screen, Chuck giggled as Ronon on the screen jumped out of the paddy wagon taking a door down with him, then disarmed a man who'd tried to pull a gun on him and threw it away. "What is this? A prisoner escape?"

John snorted and turned to Reyna. "Believe me, Chuck here only told me about this a few days ago and I'm still not sure it's real."

Confused, Reyna turned to Chuck and gave him a playful shove. "What is this Chuck?"

Chuck grinned unashamedly. "It's the greatest action scene of all time."

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a better answer, she instead focused on the screen. The area around Ronon was populated with cars and many bystanders, but few were reacting to him. Off to the side, one of the uniformed officers was busy calling reinforcements. Ronon didn't see it as he finished disarmed the officer attacking him and kicked him hard enough to go flying through a car windshield.

She didn't recognize any of the cars from the movies she'd seen. Alicia had mentioned that different nations had different cars and each one meant a different status symbol. Apparently, Alicia liked something called "Low Riders" that actually looked oddly similar to the old Lantean Personal Conveyances that she remembered from reading a history database. Except of course that the Lantean ones didn't bounce and play loud growling music.

Ronon was still shackled with chains, but he followed the HUD instructions and began to run between the cars away from his would be captors, another conveyance, this one with only two wheels and a single man riding it chased after him. Where it had come from was unclear, but Reyna pushed it out of her mind as Ronon continued his escape.

To her shock, Ronon was able to somehow trick his pursuer into crashing face first into a stopped car, it _had_ to be that since there was no way the driver was stupid enough given that he was now flying through the air and into another car with a crunch, despite being okay.

Ronon dove between another two cars and avoided a blue car that looked a little different with a roll. He climbed up onto a car to get a better vantage point, but was then nearly struck by yet _another_ flying 2 wheeled vehicle that had just appeared out of the blue. "What the…? Chuck what…"

Chuck took Reyna's shoulder and shushed her. "Wait wait! You'll miss one of the best parts!"

Her face contorted into a strange claw shape, Reyna watched as Ronon fell off the car and got his foot jammed between two others, yet another blue car was speeding towards him about to crush him to death, "Oh my…!"

Before she could finish, Ronon reached down under one of the cars he was stuck to and yanked out the drive shaft. Now utterly dumbfounded, Reyna could only watch with her jaw dropped as Ronon threw the drive shaft at the incoming car. It impaled into the radiator and through some magic of physics, the car leaped up into the air cleanly missing Ronon and instead crushing another car on impact.

Sam's voice rose in disbelief. "What the_ hell!"_

Roland next to her started to chuckle, impressed that despite the random occurrence in the VR, Ronon didn't seem all that fazed. "I'm guessing he was _supposed_ to do that."

Chuck turned and kept on grinning. "Keep watching."

Reyna was flabbergasted. This was insane! The entire crew around her watched on the LCD, and some random passersby came to see what was going on.

Ronon kept on dashing away, now avoiding a randomly spawning motorcycle as Chuck called it in such a way that it flew into the back of a truck sending the driver through the truck's windshield… or so it seemed until he just hung there unhurt. Reyna had broken glass before and had the scars to prove it. This was _ridiculous!_

And as if that wasn't bad enough already, a cavalry charge suddenly appeared before Ronon who up until that point, had been taking it in stride. His face showed his utter confusion with the situation and he shook his head to clear his image. Reyna could hear giggles from John and Chuck, with Sam still too confounded to say anything as she watched. Roland was quite confused too and sidled up to Reyna putting his hand on her opposite shoulder. "And this passes for entertainment for the Earthers?"

Reyna couldn't reply, and instead watched Ronon do the only thing he could do. Run. Amazingly he managed to stay ahead of the horsemen, even as one tried to crush him and instead broke a car windshield. But he could only stay ahead for a short time. The horsemen threw lassos at him and the two lead ones managed to get a hold of him.

Gasping, Reyna watched as Ronon was now dragged on pavement by two horses. It was brutal, she couldn't imagine how much pain he must have been in. The horsemen led Ronon to a large metal pole, seemingly about to smash him into it. Reyna had no doubt in her mind that it would kill even Ronon to hit at that speed and she not-so-playfully shoved Chuck. "Chuck! How could you!"

Chuck's grin intensified. _"Watch!"_

Reyna did, and covered her mouth as she saw Ronon slap the ground, fly up four feet in the air and catch the metal pole with a loud _"ping!"_ with his groin no less…

…and instead of a game over, he managed to hold onto the ropes so hard that the horsemen ahead of him were thrown off their horses with the entire creature and master falling into a handy marsh. That's when Reyna realized that this wasn't a normal test, Chuck had engineered it to make it the most ridiculous thing Ronon had ever faced!

Sam was fuming, "_Jo-ohn!" _Reyna had seen Sam mad during the invasion, but she'd never actually seen Sam _irritated_ to this point. "What the hell is this!"

John simply smiled back and comically pointed to Chuck next to him. "His idea."

Too entertained by the ridiculous chase scene on screen, Sam smacked her forehead and decided to leave it for later… and install some more filters into the VR input selector.

Roland chuckled as he realized it was a joke as well. "I can see what Chuck means; if all Earth television is like this I might understand why they like it."

Reyna made an annoyed noise in her throat, and poked him to quiet him. "I'll have to show you Bugs Bunny."

On screen, Ronon continued the chase with seemingly no ill effects from his scissor kicking a steel pole. Only instead of just running, he yanked on the same rope that was now looped on the pole, and used it as a clothesline for the rest of the horses.

For some inexplicable reason, three of the horsemen went right into it with the horses tripping over the cord which Ronon somehow managed to hold taut. Ridiculous was no longer an operative term for what was going on screen.

A myriad of guffaws, gasps, bemused cries of wonder and John and Sam playfully arguing continued as din while Ronon continued the chase which included dozens of wrecked cars that could seemingly jump on command, a hundred or so shattered panes of glass, and in one particularly impressive moment, a horse so dedicated to its master that it actually slid on its side on pavement underneath a semi-trailer to help Ronon escape.

The finale was spectacular. Up until that moment, none of the cars had been so damaged as to actually explode. But as Ronon rode a horse past them, the beating of the wind apparently was enough for the fuel tanks inside to explosively ignite, leaving Ronon completely unharmed.

Chuck was puce red with laughter, and Sam had calmed down and enjoyed the show. She still looked ticked off, but at least John and Chuck knew they were safe.

Roland was in awe. He'd not taken much time to watch Earth movies, but after seeing that, he was going to ask Chuck about how physics worked on his home planet. Reyna looked at Chuck when he'd finally calmed down and in a deadpan voice uttered. "There isn't a word in any language I know, or maybe even Daniel knows that says what my feeling is about that."

That just took Chuck into an even harder bout of laughter, and he was obviously out of commission for the next little while as he lay down on a nearby chair to keep from falling down laughing.

Sam and John, despite their smiles, managed to pull Ronon out of the VR training suit. Reyna moved over and gave a quick scan and a clean bill of health. Ronon's heart rate was a little high, and his brainwaves gave off some more activity than usual, but more than anything his face sold his feelings on the matter.

His mouth was skewed to one side, his eyes wide open with dumbfoundedness. Ronon's eyebrows were in a triangular alarmed shape, and after a few moments of looking around including looking at the crowd that had gathered, Chuck on a nearby bench struggling to breath with laughter, and John and Sam's smiling faces. He stared straight at Sam and said in a cool even tone. "It'll work."

* * *

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**A/N: **Uhhhmm... http(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=_K9AxO5t4BE

That is all. O_O


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, dare."

Reyna was enjoying this game to a certain degree, she was finding out more about her friends than she had in awhile, but at the same time, she was giving up some pretty private Intel of her own. Given that there was a decently sized group though, it was a more than fair proposal.

With her at the Mess Hall Balcony table were Alicia, Dan, Claudita, Renata, Kraya, Aleron, as well as her somewhat new friend Ashima, whom had been a sort of liaison between Ronon's new group and the hospital staff.

She scrutinized each, Claudita was obviously enjoying herself, the relatively tall and thin woman had combed her reddish brown hair backwards and let her green eyes do the talking. Her cosmetics business had boomed and she was even hiring some young people to assist with gathering her needed materials.

Renata was contemplative, it was rare that she'd get to hang out with so many people and was still confused over the point of this 'Truth or Dare' game, especially since Alicia had explained that it wasn't even exactly the original given the bottle they'd spin to choose who was next. Her long brown hair was loose and blowing softly in the chilly wind, flowing over her shoulders and clean cotton hospital jumpsuit.

Aleron was there because Alicia and Dan were there, nobody was bothered by his eyepatch anymore and Reyna had noticed Kraya giving him that look she knew the blond woman could give. If Aleron noticed the easy quarry, he didn't make it obvious as he simply seemed expressionless.

Ashima's tiny frame belied her strength though, she'd been a techie her whole life, but after successfully going through Dan's old Marine style training, she had joined Ronon's armed forces and was what Dan proudly called a 'Sapper' or 'Combat Engineer' much like himself. Reyna didn't think she'd _ever_ seen Dan proud of someone else.

Now though, Alicia had just agreed to accomplish whatever dare Dan had in mind, and given that she'd asked him to strip and jump into the water below on her dare to him, a dare which he'd refused and instead just flashed her much to the group's amusement, things were likely to escalate _again_. Dan had compromised and on a truth admitted to hiring a prostitute while on tour back on Earth. He stated that it was just easier especially given the Fraternization Regs that he'd always adhered to.

Reyna didn't understand the Frat Regs, the fact that she saw these people who worked together so closely foster such friendships was completely different than her own people. Reyna worked closely with Carson everyday, but she wasn't in love with him. Granted yes, she'd thought about a relationship with him, but it just never materialized and instead they were good friends.

She looked at Dan and Alicia and saw another likely pair. The two had enough sexual tension to make it difficult to _breathe_ around them. Yet as far as Reyna knew, they'd never given in. It was strange to her, but then again teh Earthers _were_ strange.

This was contrasted by other relationships she saw, especially Chuck and Laura and John and Sam. Granted, she was curious as to both, but also at the same time, she wasn't that surprised. Earth relationships were just much too confusing and she decided that she wanted nothing to do with them anymore… a lie really, but still a satisfying one.

So she was quite annoyed when Dan mused. "Alright Leesh, I dare you to kiss Rey."

Alicia was already blushing from getting flashed earlier, so now she was beet red. _"Dan!_ What the hell?"

"Hey you wanted me to jump into cold water in my birthday suit! You ever hear of shrinkage? That shit _hurts!_ This is _peanuts_ compared to that."

This wasn't exactly expected, Reyna furrowed her brow and looked to Dan. "Dan! Why do you have to bring _me_ into this?"

Claudita decided to tease Reyna and spoke in her typical playful voice. "He obviously likes you both, so he wants to combine you."

Alicia was mortified, and palmed her face. Reyna could tell she was quickly regretting having introduced this game next to a shameless person like Dan. "_Fine._ I'll take truth."

Dan simply shrugged and deadpanned. "Alright, describe your first orgasm."

Alicia groaned in irritation much to Reyna's amusement. "I hate you, you know that?" Reyna couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Alicia's predicament as she turned to face her. "Rey? Help me out here?"

With the group chuckling now, Reyna sighed and nodded. "Alright… but just don't make anything of it."

Aleron chuckled and looked at them with bewilderment. "I've heard of _Homorotia_ like this before, but it's so rare I've never seen it."

Dan raised his eyebrows at the term. "_Homerotia? _Ha! I like that!" He then turned back to Alicia and Reyna. "Well come on! A _real_ kiss, not just some peck. Make me forget my troubles." He grinned at Alicia's death glare, and then was silent and the two women craned their necks over.

Reyna had kissed women before, always playfully and never with any intentions. It was just a fun little thing to do, but she could sense Alicia's nervousness as their lips locked.

Dan chuckled, and the other women gave their knowing smiles, Alicia was obviously mortified and Reyna didn't feel much more at ease. It was just a kiss, she'd kissed people before… It was over in a few seconds, but Alicia's cheeks were bright red. Reyna didn't get that. Homosexual relationships weren't common among the Travelers, so she didn't understand the stigma Alicia felt. No matter, it was time to spin the bottle again.

The bottle spun quickly, and a few moments later, it pointed towards Renata who began to look over everyone else deviously. After a moment of consideration, she looked at Alicia. "Alright Alicia, truth or dare."

"Aw why is everyone picking on me?"

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle, I'm actually curious about something."

Dan snorted softly, and Alicia again gave him a glare. "Fine. Truth."

Renata brushed some hair out of her eyes and asked in all seriousness. "What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?"

Alicia went silent for a moment, and after some consideration, answered in a simple tone. "Look into the eyes of the Orici." The way Alicia worded it told Reyna that she wasn't going to be hearing more about that anytime soon, considering that Alicia had almost burned up on reentry only a few days ago, this 'Orici' must have been quite dangerous. Dan's silence only emphasized that. "Alright… next."

The bottle spun again, and this time it landed on Ashima, The fiery young woman smirked deviously and looked to Reyna. "Reyna! Alright. I've been dying to know this for weeks now."

Reyna furrowed her brow and scratched her head. "Okay.. you could have just asked me. I guess I'll pick Truth."

"How many sexually transmitted diseases does Dan have?"

Alicia burst out laughing, she'd wanted so badly to ask the same question, but decided to keep it back in the hopes of someone else asking. It had paid off. The others in the group groaned softly, but were still amused. Reyna waited till it died down, saw Dan's slight nod agreeing to let her say it, and said. "None."

Ashima raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

Dan shrugged and chuckled. "Better luck next time Ash."

Annoyed with how her plan had backfired, Ashima swore to one day defeat Dan in _something._ After the torture he'd put her through in training, revenge was slowly getting sweeter and more appealing. It was odd, Ashima owed her newfound strength and ability to Dan, yet at the same time, found herself wanting to compete directly.

Reyna rolled her eyes and watched as Dan spun the bottle once more. It landed on Kraya and she turned to Aleron. Aleron screwed his face and shrugged. "Truth, I'm not sure I'd _want _to do anything you all have planned."

Kraya chuckled and gave Aleron a suggestive look. "Trust me, you'd enjoy it. But okay, I'm curious, I know you were a soldier for the Olim, but what's the most dangerous thing _you've _ever done?"

Aleron rubbed his chin pensitively for a second, after a moment he replied. "One of my first strike missions, the assault craft I was on was boarded by the Shade. They'd torn the engine apart and the craft was falling into the gas giant we were orbiting. The closest craft was far away, but they couldn't get close enough to try and rescue us." Aleron noticed that while Alicia and Dan seemed attentive yet unsurprised, the others were amazed at his eloquence. "I had a choice, stay on the ship and hope a rescue craft came for me. Or…"

Dan opened his eyes wide as he realized what was coming. "Yer shittin' me! You _jumped!"_

Aleron shrugged. "My Alcaeus armor gave me a path to follow, but there was no telling what would happen, I had to jump from rock to rock in order to build enough speed, it required precision and perfect timing. I traveled almost a thousand kilometers before I was picked up.

Aleron's eye widened and his pupil narrowed as he focused. "It was the most frightened I'd ever been in my life. The Shade were after me as well and on my heels when I was picked up. We lost over three thousand in that battle.

No one else said anything, whether they were pleased with Olim losses or saddened was a mystery, and Aleron simply put his hand on the bottle. "Next?"

The bottle spun once more, and this time it landed on Reyna who smiled. It was time for curiosity. "Alright, Aleron?"

The Olim wasn't expecting to be asked something else again so quickly so he turned sharply. "Oh _merda."_

Alicia chuckled and tut tuted him. "Hey hey, watch your language."

Aleron raised an eyebrow in surprise. He'd have to be careful when dipping into the emphasized Olim language as Alicia's native language was actually quite similar. "I…see."

Reyna snickered softly at how Alicia and Aleron had come to a truce. They were still obviously ticked off at each other, but it was nice to see the knives down. "Alright, yesterday you told me about why you wear gloves… I dare you to _show _me."

No one else really understood what Reyna had asked, and Aleron raised both his eyebrows in surprise. "…You're not serious?"

Reyna nodded. "Come on, I'm curious. Just a little, I'm not asking you for something huge. Just show me what it's like."

Aleron didn't move, seemingly questioning whether he'd do it or not. He could easily go for a truth instead, but knowing these Atlanteans, they'd likely ostracize him. Already feeling outcast, Aleron grit his teeth and sighed. "Very well… but only for a moment."

As Aleron began to take his right glove off, Alicia cut in with a worried tone. "Whoa! Hold it." She turned to Reyna. "Are you sure about this? I don't like the idea of this whole telepathy bit." She turned to Aleron and gave a sarcastic smile. "No offense."

Aleron gave her the same sarcastic smile back. "None taken, and you yourself would feel it if you meditated a bit."

Alicia rolled her eyes and then backed off. "Not this again. My brother did the Santeria thing and I _never_ got over that goat's head in the closet."

Everyone except Dan gave Alicia a shocked look, but Reyna pushed it aside. "Thank you for the concern Alicia, but I'm sure about this. I need to experience something like that if I want to understand it."

Aleron shrugged as he wiggled his free fingers in the air. "Brave. You have little idea how private this would be for the Olim." He pumped his fists hard enough for his knuckles to crack, Aleron noticed everyone giving him worried looks, especially the three civilians, Claudita, Renata and Kraya. They'd never seen him nervous and it made them anxious.

Reyna nodded and then shifted her seat over to face him. "Alright… what do I do?"

Aleron took in a breath, then motioned down. "Give me your hand. This will only take a moment."

Reyna did as she was told, and feeling Aleron's warm hands over hers, took a deep breath.. He held her hand for a moment, and Reyna was starting to wonder if...

It happened faster than she could react, and jerking back, Reyna was shocked that Aleron had already let go and was looking carefully at her. "Did you feel it?"

Reyna tried to calm down, she'd felt… _something._ It was hard to judge exactly what had happened. But there was a distinct feeling of both pain, loneliness, and even a little… amusement? "What… What _was_ that?"

Alicia narrowed her eyes and spat. "What'd you do?"

Even Dan was confused. "Yeah, that didn't look that nice."

Aleron shrugged and put his gloves back on. He spoke bravely. "She merely felt what I feel right now. Nothing more."

Reyna caught her breath, and quickly held up her hands defending Aleron. "No no! wait… he's…" she looked at Aleron, shocked at just what a level of intensity she'd felt from him. "He's right… I… I guess I just wasn't ready."

Everyone was a little worried over the occurrence, and it wasn't made any better when Aleron nodded to Reyna slightly. "No. You weren't."

Reyna decided to leave it for another day, so she just gave everyone else a reassuring smile, and then spun the bottle again. The tension quickly passed, and the bottle landed on Ashima who smiled and decided to break the tension fully. "Ohh. Okay. Dan?"

Dan smirked deviously. "Oh? Alright, I'll take dare."

Ashima grinned evilly. "I was hoping you'd say that. I dare you… to kiss Alicia's ass."

Alicia burst out laughing again, she groaned as her still sore muscles complained, but it was still worth it. The others around laughed as well, and Aleron's moment with Reyna was soon over.

Reyna easily guessed Dan's reaction once it had calmed down. He stared Ashima back in the face defiantly. "Bare ass, or clothed?"

Reyna smiled, it was a fitting revenge for making her and Alicia kiss. Although Aleron's comment as he leaned over to whisper had her in stitches. "_Is this Truth or Dare just some veiled mating ritual?"_

_

* * *

_

Entering the laboratory airlock right before where she had the Shade creature in hold, Reyna was surprised to find Carson waiting for her. "Carson."

The Scottish doctor turned, he didn't look very amused. He almost looked out of place in this dark isolated corner of Atlantis in his white smock. "Reyna, is what I'm hearing true? Are you experimenting on that Shade creature?"

It was obvious that Carson was asking a loaded question, and Reyna didn't appreciate that. "Less experimenting and more doing a biological study." She moved closer, now preparing to sterilize her clothes and exposed skin to the atmosphere. "Just because you won't do it doesn't mean someone else won't, and I'd rather get accurate data than risk someone else messing it up."

To her surprise, Carson shifted over and blocked her way. "Haven't you learned anything? Life is sacred, there's a limit to everything and learning the best way to _kill_ something is above that."

Reyna sighed, and looked up the few inches she needed to look Carson in the eyes. "Why do you think I just want to kill it? I'm discovering how it grows, how it digests Naquadah, I might even find out how they can open a hyperspace window. Isn't that worth doing tests like this?" Annoyed, she continued. "And don't _your_ people test things just like this on animals too? Daniel's told me all about it. He's actually surprised you're not willing to do this after what happened with the Wraith."

Carson narrowed his eyes, and his voice was low. Obviously Reyna had hit a nerve. "I lost a piece of my _soul _because of what I did for that monster. I _don't_ want the same to happen to you."

Reyna understood now, Carson was trying to impose his own morals on her. In a way she was touched that Carson cared, but in another, it was aggravating. "I'm not emotionally attached to this Carson. I'm treating this exactly the same way I would a Wraith. As far as I'm concerned, I'm _saving_ lives by studying this creature. So if you're not going to help me, then please leave." She wanted to say something much meaner, and it nearly came out as her voice rose uncharacteristically.

Carson stared back for a moment and then stormed off, obviously not done, but not willing to confront Reyna fully.

Reyna herself felt the ire rising in her blood. That wasn't like her, she didn't often get emotional and even less with people she liked. The few guards in the area were silent, none of them would say anything. She wasn't having any issues with this study, but if people began to aggravate her over it, then she definitely wasn't going to stay quiet. Besides, it was _just_ a Shade.

Reyna finished cleaning herself up and once inside the lab, picked up her tablet. She looked across to the area where the Shade was chained down and saw it exactly as she'd left it. The lights were turned down to avoid any potential feeding of the Shade that wasn't in a controlled atmosphere, the carbon based restraints holding fast against the brutishly powerful creature.

It was leaning to one side, the hard shell of superdense silicon cut open exposing the internal organs which were being bathed in acid to keep from corroding. One of its arms had been amputated and lay on a scanner, the strange musculature inside the target of the scanners beams.

Reyna rubbed her face, still annoyed at Carson and began to take the notes she needed to on Shade healing ability. She stretched her arms tiredly as she tapped into the network and began to go over the records she'd left running overnight. The Shade had expended most of it's internal nutrients and was in a dormant state, using up very little detectable energy. Taking a large rock of mostly silicon and Naquadah, she nudged it towards the Shade offering it what she assumed was its sustenance. A good reference for Shade healing would be quite useful, and she'd even get to see how the Naquadah was digested.

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	4. Chapter 4

It'd been crazy all night, Chuck had apparently contracted Dan and Kraya to be his drinking buddies, and running into the trio, Reyna was quickly roped into joining the shenanigans. She was scared of something she had in mind, but it _did_ appear to be more than coincidence. Alicia and Rafaela had been around for a bit as well, but they left to do their own thing soon enough. They'd also run into John and Sam having a walk with Daniel and Teyla walking Torren, and the momentary awkwardness was quickly alleviated when both Teyla and Sam had taken a swig each of Dan's superproof liquor before continuing on their little trip. Reyna was shocked that either was standing after that. Laura was suspiciously missing from the ensemble.

Frisbee and frolicking around in the garden had quickly devolved into Frisbee-tag, and each had plenty of fun chasing each other around. The addition of alcohol only made it crazier.

When Kraya had suggested swimming in a newly opened pool of filtered water from the surface, Dan had been more than willing to oblige. Chuck was less enthusiastic as in his own words, "Alcohol, Chuck, and swimming don't mix". Even on the addition of Kraya saying she was going skinny dipping, Chuck still declined. Dan was obviously having his fun, and Chuck wasn't about to jump in between that.

That left Reyna and Chuck on their own, and Chuck decided to teach Reyna about, in his own words, the elitist and chauvinistic sport of golf. Reyna didn't mind, and they both moved over to the edge of the garden overlooking the water.

John had set up his own little stash, but he didn't mind Chuck using it to blow off steam. Chuck was one of those crazy people who needed to know everything, do everything, and be able to teach anyone just about anything. Reyna appreciated that kind of person as she was similar in many ways. She also loved that Chuck was able to keep very aloof and easygoing about his life despite the many twists it had taken.

Minutes turned to almost an hour, and Reyna was still having trouble hitting the golf ball with any accuracy or straightness. She repeatedly sliced it off to the right, and amusingly hit a nearby tower. She was glad no one was around at this time of night so her horrible skills weren't made public knowledge

Chuck was relentless. "Come on Rey! Prove me a girl can play the game!"

Reyna growled back and shook her fist at Chuck. "I'm _drunk! _I'm shocked I can do _this!_"

Chuck kept on laughing, and he took another swig of the lighter Settler Vodka-like beverage. He'd mixed it with a citrus style plant and came out with something suspiciously like Sprite. "You're not drunk, you've had like three drinks." He slurred his words just slightly, but he was obviously having fun.

Reyna turned drunkenly to Chuck and spat. "I've had _seven _drinks! And I can probably outdrink_ you!"_

Chuck merely smiled and moved up to help her with her swing. "Remind me to tell you about Texas Mickeys…" He watched as she sliced yet _another_ ball and yelled. "No no no! You've completely forgotten _everything_ I said… here… lemme show you."

Reyna didn't resist as Chuck wrapped his arms around hers from behind, and now moved his body in concert with hers. He moved her hands using his and propped up the top of the golf club to her belly button. "There… you line it up like that… and then you bend forward."

Chuck didn't notice Reyna sigh softly as he bent her forward with his chest, or even that she shimmied back a little. Reyna continued her lesson and slurred. "Okay… so now I twist right?"

Chuck tut tuted her and said. "Sorta. You gotta twist from here… just watch and learn…" Again, Chuck used his arms and body to twist Reyna into position, and then readied her in the standard coiled golfing procedure. "Ready?"

Reyna nodded, accidentally bumping into Chuck's chin with the back of her head. "Ow! Yeah. I'm ready."

Between the two of them, the swing downward was graceful and smooth, following through the golfball and sending it up and sailing straight and far…

… and Reyna and Chuck stumbling to the floor as Chuck lost his balance.

Both yelped as the fell, and the nearly empty bottle of liquor flew up and over the railing. Chuck thought momentarily about jumping in and retrieving it, but his former words came back to him just as he hit the floor, and subsequently lost his breath as Reyna fell right on top of him. "_Oooph!"_

Reyna started to laugh as she tried to right herself, only to fall again onto Chuck face first. Chuck started laughing as well and wondered where the hell the golf club had gone. Feeling Reyna laughing on top of him, Chuck sighed and muttered "Ow. Golf isn't supposed to hurt like that."

Reyna giggled, and looking down at Chuck's smiling face, went for broke.

Chuck wasn't really expecting the kiss, but he didn't fight it off. With Reyna's thighs squeezing his torso, and their tongues mingling, Chuck was momentarily lost in delight.

That is until he quickly snapped back to reality and sobriety and pushed Reyna away. Neither said anything, they were completely alone and no one had seen them kissing.

Chuck was speechless, he went over the dictionary in his head, and apart from several internet memes, there was only one thing he _could_ say. "Oh… _shit."_

Reyna snorted once, and then sighed. She blushed and using one hand to balance herself, pushed her loose hair away from her face. She knew how embarrassed she must have looked.

Chuck gulped, and noticed that Reyna wasn't moving from her position on top of him. So he quickly deduced what had just happened, and why Reyna had been so easy to convince to come along. "So uhh… yeah."

Reyna could see that Chuck didn't want to say it, and neither did she. "Yeah…."

"How uhh… how long have…?"

"Awhile." Reyna kept smiling, although the joy had left her face. "I uhh… awhile."

Chuck continued breathing, now just trying to think about something other than how soft Reyna's thighs felt against his stomach. He knew she worked out and could likely crush his stomach so he had to be careful… in more ways than one since they just felt so _damned_ soft. "… Must have been…"

"Yeah." Reyna didn't want this to last any longer than it had to. "I… I guess I just didn't want to regret not…" She drew in a long breath, and then chuckled as she saw Chuck squirm a little under her. "I'll get off you now."

"Yeah! Yeah… that'd uhh… that'd be nice of you." Seeing Reyna pull away, and then sit on her butt with the railing as a backrest, Chuck could see she was more than a little distraught. "Why uhh...? Why now?"

Reyna shrugged, maintaining her smile all the while along. "I told you, I don't want regrets…" she scoffed almost to herself. "I never expected you to… well… I know you're… you and..." She faltered off, obviously still insinuating and inferring. "The funny thing is, if you _had_, I don't think I would have liked you anymore."

Chuck was glad as the suddenly awkward moment wasn't the kind he liked, He sat up and sighed. "Yeah… yeah. But then…" he snickered once realizing. "You don't want regrets. I can understand that." He pushed the idea of his mind, and then offered his hand to Reyna. "Friends?"

Reyna smiled for real now, she was so scared to have done what she just did, but somehow she knew Chuck would understand. So she accepted Chuck's hand as they got up, and then said. "Of course. If you'll have me."

Chuck continued chuckling, and then decided to show Reyna what he thought about what just happened. "Of course, you're a barrel of monkeys once you open up." He pulled Reyna in for a friendly hug, and then looked around. "Now help me find that golf club, Sheppard'll _kill_ me if we lose it."

That was it, in less than three minutes she'd just given Chuck her heart… and he'd been nice enough to give it back. Reyna was tingly all over, it'd gone down almost exactly as she feared it would. But she knew she was right, and never having done anything would have been too much to bear. At least now, she knew where she stood.

* * *

It took Roland a minute or two to arrive at the doorway, but his look of surprise upon seeing Reyna was worth it. "Huh? Rey? The hell? it's two in the morning, what's wrong? You need something?"

Reyna rarely minced words, and knowing that this wasn't something new to them, she just said it. "I need some company." She knew she must have looked dreadful, the sweat from her former activity and frolicking must have dirtied her makeup, but she knew Roland was both a friend… and more importantly, a man.

Roland for that matter merely raised his brow in mild surprise, but after a moment nodded. "Come on in."

* * *

Reyna couldn't believe it. Carson had gone above her head and now, when she could have been doing an electrical study of how the Shade were able to capacitate energy, she was stuck inside the conference room with the rest of the new council.

It was Daniel at the helm, looking prim and proper with his mix of Traveler and Earth clothing and a Settler silk shirt. Teyla and Nevas sat beside him, both in their standard people's clothing, as well as Alrich and Phelan as the subcommittee heads.

Sam was there too as Daniel's scientific advisor, yet again in her uniform and her tablet. She'd been busy studying the space station and had made the time to come down for the meeting. Ronon as military head with John as his own advisor sat on the other side, both in uniform, but Ronon looked sweaty. Obviously he'd been training.

A packed house no doubt, and they'd all just listened to Carson give an impassioned speech about how the difference between being alive, and having a life. How his experiences with the Wraith known as Michael had given him an outlook that saw beyond the short term. Reyna understood, she _really _did, but Carson was being unbelievably bullheaded and she just wanted to smack him into the bulkhead!

So she got up, and began her own speech. "As you all know, we captured a Shade creature a week ago while investigating the space station in orbit. Sam… Colonel Carter can vouch for me that we've already begun to examine the weapon the space station used, you can all read her report on our findings, but suffice it to say the weapon is designed to incapacitate Shade, and in turn, electronic equipment.

"The important matter of this is simple. The Shade are the most unique form of life any of us have ever found. Silicon based life is the equivalent of our early ancestors discovering fire, or the wheel. I've already made enough findings to take an industrial or nuclear powered people to the stars and beyond.

"The Shade aren't just living creatures, they're literally _grown_ technology. They act as living capacitors and _clearly_ aren't afraid of using that ability as Colonel Marks discovered several months ago. They are as much as, if not a _greater_ threat to us than the Wraith, or even the Olim.

Nobody could reply, it was obvious she was just as passionate as Carson, and Carson kept his gaze on her. Reyna grit her teeth and continued. "This one Shade, this one solitary Shade we stumbled upon; I've discovered that it's almost half a million years old! I'm not sure if you understand what this means so i'll make it clear. It's only a _little_ less evolved than the Shade we've encountered here right now, for all we know, the Shade we've encountered are _all_ that old!

"This brings up so many questions that I can hardly know where to start, how old are the Shade as a _species?_ We know the Wraith were very long lived and theoretically couldn't die of natural causes, but the longest we'd seen is only ten thousand years. Given that an average human can live a hundred and fifty with proper supplementation and medical aid, for a creature to be able to live _this_ long without having to feed on the T-Cells or 'life' of another creature is spectacular.

"This could mean new medicines, longer and more healthy lives, all apart from the _technological_ aspects which I'm not qualified to speak for, but which include power generation and storage, hyperdrive technology, and a dozen other things i really don't understand, but are compelling enough to warrant this study.

"Simply put, the Shade represent an area of research that we can't afford _not_ to examine. All I've said is _apart_ from the fact that they're also an incredible danger to this galaxy. We have no way of tracking them at this moment, and no way to finding out exactly how many there are. If Colonel Carter is right in her estimates, then we're outnumbered at the very least, by a number in the millions to one.

"I'm not saying that we'll become like the Wraith, feeding off the species of the Shade. But I _am_ saying that studying them, learning how they reproduce, and how they can do the almost miraculous things they can do, will help us survive here since as far as I can tell, we're on our own. And that's what matters at heart, our survival."

Nobody clapped, nobody cheered, and nobody said anything. Reyna simply thanked them and resumed her seat. After a few quick looks, the entire command staff excused Carson and Reyna and began their private deliberations. Reyna didn't expect much else, but then again she knew they'd come to her side anyway.

Carson didn't say anything, and merely walked off. Reyna sighed and moved in the opposite direction, towards the mess hall as she'd missed breakfast.

A few people stopped her, asking her about medical whatsits or some other mumbo-jumbo. Reyna politely answered and continued on her quest for food.

By the time she'd gotten herself a plate of freshly steamed vegetables and something that was supposed to pass for bread, it was almost lunch time. She sat down with more than a hint of frustration, and didn't invite anyone to sit by her.

So it was a little surprising when Presjan arrived and sat as well, his plate full of lean meats and a little tray with pills. "Hey Rey! Heard you had a busy morning."

Reyna looked up from her food and was a little surprised. She hadn't seen Presjan in awhile, and he'd _grown._ "Janny? Ascended ancestors… how many steroids are you _taking?"_

Presjan laughed and flexed his exposed arms; the cut off workout shirt he wore exposed most of them, thankfully still covering his pits. His formerly only 13 inch arms had ballooned to 15 inches and since he'd had hardly any fat on him, he looked quite muscular. Not as much as Roland but _still_. "None actually! Dan says that they only work if you've hit a plateau already. Actually he knows a lot about working out, I'm not surprised he's as strong as he is."

Not in the mood to talk about her friend, Reyna sighed and leaned back. Dan was _very_ strong for his size, but Reyna knew why and just couldn't be bothered to hear it. She was full, and needed a nap before heading to the labs. "That's nice."

"You should come with us, our workouts are _intense."_

Reyna suppressed her laugh, Dan's workouts typically involved lifting what he called a 'small car's worth' of iron plates mere inches above his chest, or precariously balancing even more weight on his legs and back. She'd never seen such a stupid move, but at least he never did it without Aralus or another of his stronger trainees spotting him. "I doubt I could keep up, I like the machines, not freeweights."

Presjan shrugged, and then looked at Reyna's food. "You should really cut out the carbs. It was rough at first, but I can't believe how shredded I'm getting…"

Reyna resisted sighing and decided to just grin and bear it. Presjan had gone from a techhead to a muscle freak. She needed to have a word with Dan later about Presjan's mental faculties.

* * *

"That's amazing! It's mimicking _exactly_ what our hyperdrive generators do!"

Rafaela's giddy screams made Reyna shudder. Granted this was just a simulation, but it was an accurate one now thanks to the council's decision to let her continue. "I've forwarded this to Sam and when Daedalus calls home again, they'll get it too."

Sitting in Rafaela's lab, Reyna was a little surprised to see a few other people milling about doing gods knew what. Typically, Rafaela worked on her own. Rafaela continued her girlish glee. "You don't understand! On Earth, we're just _starting _to crack this technology! Up until now, we've always had to duplicate our hyperdrives using Asgard or Goa'uld technology! If the Shade can naturally create the gravity fields needed to tear open the fabric of…"

Reyna took Rafaela by the shoulders and shook her in a sudden fit of exasperation. "Take a breath! _Sloooow_ down! Don't make me give you a sedative!"

Rafaela blushed, but she quickly shook off the giddiness, "Right… Right you're right. Sorry. It's just that..!" seeing Reyna's glare, Rafaela calmed down again. "Rey, I know you don't get the implications, but this means that the Shade might give us insight into how we can make our own home bred hyperdrives and capacitors on a high level like the Asgard or Ancients! We…"

A strong glare from Reyna, and Rafaela silenced. Reyna then said. "I'm happy, I'm _ecstatic. _I'm _giddy_ that you can use this information. I hope you have many children with it you obviously love it so much." Rafaela gave Reyna a sarcastic glare back, and both women started snickering. "I'm almost done with the Shade, and I needed to clear something with you, I wanted to borrow some equipment."

Rafaela shrugged. "Sure, just make sure we know what's where and it shouldn't be an issue."

Reyna gave a wide grin and squeezed Rafaela's arm as she walked away. "Thank you, I hope that information continues to pleasure you as much as it seems."

Walking away, Reyna didn't pay attention to Rafaela's parting shot. It didn't matter, she knew the scientist would be having too much fun.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

"You're not as fun as my other keeper, Alicia is much easier to goad."

Reyna turned her head towards the noise, her guests of honor had arrived and this whole sordid affair was almost done with. "Ah, guys, good of you to _finally_ make it."

As the pair walked into the lab where the Shade was being kept, Dan chuckled and eyed the lack of guards in the room. "Sorry, _Daredevil_ here needed a shower. You did _not_ want to smell him after our basketball game."

Aleron crossed his arms, he _did_ look freshly showered and with his eyepatch, he looked even more menacing as he glared at Dan. "You're just sore you lost. I _told_ you about my abilities." He then cracked a smirk. "And you stunk just as badly."

Looking at Dan carefully, she saw that he too had showered, but as healthy as it was to have an interest about one or the other in the shower, Reyna had more important matters to attend to.

Unfortunately, Dan and Aleron didn't even seem to notice her anymore. "Please, I use deodorant. I was _fine. _You smelled like an anchovy's cunt compared to me." He smirked. "And besides, Alicia was pissed she lost her bet. How do you know I didn't throw the game?"

Aleron snorted and rolled his eyes. "You'd never stoop so low. You don't accept failure, why else would you have cursed me in your native language?"

"Maybe I blessed you, how would you know, Daredevil?"

"Blessings are typically not screamed, and you do know Alicia hates it when you call me that?"

"Why else would I do it?"

Reyna palmed her forehead and groaned irritably. "Do you guys need a few minutes? I've already waited several."

Dan turned to Reyna and gave her a sarcastic laugh. _"Ha._ No. but why do you need _both_ of us here? Leesh was gonna come too but figured she'd try out that VR thing." He snorted. "She challenged me to a virtual sparring so whatever it is here, hurry up."

Aleron rolled his eyes. "Revenge for yesterday?"

Dan chuckled. "She wishes, probably loved my lips on her ass."

Resisting her laugh at the memory of Alicia bending over, and pulling down one side of her pants so Dan could get a lip to skin contact with her left butt cheek, Reyna again gave them a glare, and both men turned to her with seriousness. She smiled and then pointed to the chained shade who was now on the inside of a glass cased box. It was large enough to almost be a room in itself, and she explained. "I'm done with the Shade. I've found out all I need to know and there's little use for it now. Since we can't just let it go though, I figured a test of the new Gauss rifle Rafaela and Radek designed was in order. I'll even be able to get a spatter test because there's a danger of acid or shards of razor sharp crystal blowing back.

Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise, but Aleron merely asked. "Where is it?"

Reyna hooked her thumb and pointed to the case on the desk behind her. "Right here, which one of you wants to shoot?"

Dan was speechless, but he didn't exactly look offended. He merely shrugged and motioned to Aleron.

Aleron smiled, and moved over to the case. Sam had given him a few looks at the Gauss Rifle, but he hadn't actually held it yet.

Reyna personally loved the design of the weapon. A pair of high strength ferrous coils were encased in Lantean high energy yield materials giving the weapon a very Lantean look. It actually reminded Reyna of the old Lantean Force Pistols, except with a distinct Traveler or Earth feel to the rear of the gun with the exposed wiring and gas canister. It was large though, much larger than a SCAR or P90. Aleron fumbled a bit with the weapon, but eventually found where to activate it.

The instructions that Rafaela had printed out were quite clear, the canister of Aerosolized Naquadria would feed a microsized generator, allowing for almost six hundred shots with just a small disposable tank of the gas. It was designed to also use Olim Naquadah gas canisters in case of emergency, but at a lower setting. A clip of fifty Trinium slugs fit into the area right above and in front of the pistol grip, making a very ergonomical, if slightly heavy weapon.

Aleron commented. "It's not as efficient as the Olim rifles, but I like it."

Dan said nothing about the weapon, but walked up to Reyna. "Rey, you're gonna kill it?"

Reyna shrugged, and looked over to the Shade which was still breathing, still bathing in acid, and obviously in pain. "It's had enough. And we can't let it go. Better to just get it over with." She sighed and looked Dan in the eyes. "Do you have a problem with this?"

Dan shrugged back. "Well… no. Just a little surprised that's all." He scratched his temple and then asked. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Reyna shook her head, and then motioned Aleron towards a hazard suit for his protection inside the case. "They told me to get rid of it. They didn't specify how. At least this way I'll get some important data that might save someone's life if we get into a fight with the Shade."

Dan couldn't help but admire Reyna's dedication to her work. _He'd_ have just shot the damn thing in the first place.

It was a tidy affair, and Aleron quickly hopped in with the rifle. He shifted around a bit, the weapon was meant to be carried by someone wearing Proteus armor and while handheld, not easy to carry. He pointed the rifle at the Shade and called over the radio. "Any points in particular?"

Reyna shook her head and tapped the intercom. "Just wherever you shoot to kill." As Aleron prepared to shoot, Reyna smiled as she remembered something. "By the way, Dan. You lied to me."

Dan raised his eyebrows, and prepared for the sonic boom of the slug breaking the sound barrier before killing the Shade. A solid plate of ceramics was behind the Shade, ready to catch the bullet if need be. "The hell I did."

Reyna turned to Dan, and after the loud crack and death squeal of the rifle firing, and the Shade reacting to the hit, she said. "You told me there wasn't anymore Bugs Bunny cartoons."

Dan grimaced seeing the large amount of spatter and shards of the Shade that the shot had created. A pool of acid and other fluids steamed in the ceramic base which the Shade had been chained down to. The glass was etched all over, and Reyna began to examine the scanner's readings on spatter, force, and spray.

Dan watched in mild interest as Aleron moved forward, then kicked the Shade lightly just checking. He looked down at the rifle and obviously liked it. Dan replied. "There isn't. Not as far as I know."

Reyna smirked deviously, she hoped that Alicia and Dan would be able to watch the movie with her, as she had found that while Chuck had recommended it, she couldn't be around him just now.

* * *

Alicia yawned loudly, she'd already been up for almost 18 hours and she needed sleep. "I'm turning in, sorry I couldn't last it, but I got stuff to do tomorrow."

Reyna was sitting next to Dan with a bucket of something similar to popcorn Sam had managed to invent using the biological databases and similar ingredients. Alicia had gotten up and stretched her arms. Dan snorted and leaned back on his sofa. "You sure you don't want a kiss goodnight?"

Alicia chuckled, and spinning around gave her right butt cheek a soft slap. "I'll take it right here, thanks." She looked over her shoulder to Reyna who'd paused the movie they were watching. "Don't let him try anything. He's probably still sore about the fight."

Dan scoffed. "Please, five out of nine _isn't _something to be proud of." He smirked. "And I totally kicked your ass after I grabbed it."

Alicia narrowed her eyes at Dan. "Didn't I shove a virtual knife in your chest for copping that feel?"

Again, Reyna was caught in between. "Should I leave? I know you Earthers are private about your mating rituals."

_"REY!"_

_"REY!"_

Reyna snickered. It was so easy to goad them both when they were together. "Sorry! I'm just calling it as I see it!"

Alicia groaned and reached over for her cane. She was still using it just in case since her leg muscles were giving her a harder time to heal. "I'm gone. I'll see ya both tomorrow."

Wordlessly, Alicia limped out of Dan's quarters, Dan sighed and took a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Alright, time for more wacky Daffy Duck and friends."

Reyna growled softly. "He's _funny!_"

Dan shrugged. "He's annoying. Bugs is alright, but Daffy's just… I dunno. Makes me wanna throw him out the window."

Reyna snorted. "We saw what happens when you do that."

Palming his forehead, Dan just pointed at the screen where Looney Tunes: Back in Action was playing. "Just hit play. At least we're almost at Heather Lockley in a corset."

Reyna chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Those things are _evil."_

Dan just laughed.

They continued watching, Reyna glad to have company that she could just play around with and not have any tension. But as the movie went on, something happened to her that she just didn't understand.

Dan didn't even notice until he turned to reach for more popcorn. "What the…? Rey, are you… _crying_?"

Taking in a breath through her mouth, Reyna wiped her eyes instinctively. She wasn't too sure exactly what was happening. "I… I dunno."

Dan stood still for a moment, and watched as another tear came down Reyna's cheek, she was still smiling at the movie. "Rey… you okay?"

Very rarely would Dan ever ask anyone that question, she knew Dan had a bit of a sadistic side and found other people's superficial pain as amusing. It was a common trait among her own people, she understood why sociopathy was an easy route to take. "I… I dunno…"

Dan sighed, and then silently moved over to put an arm around Reyna. He didn't say anything, but just hugged her gently. Reyna felt her nose seize up, and before she could stop herself she was sobbing.

Dan now paused the movie and rolled Reyna into a full-bodied hug. Reyna sobbed into his shirt shamelessly now, still not understanding where the emotion was coming from. Dan simply squeezed her, rubbing her back and shoulders soothing her.

She stayed like that for awhile, just letting whatever emotion she had out. Reyna eventually managed to gain some control again, and she pushed away enough to breathe properly.

Dan kept his voice calm and quiet. "You want me to walk you home?"

_"No…!"_ Reyna was surprised by her own ferocity. She sounded desperate, as if she was in trouble. "I… _please_… _please_ don't make me leave."

Dan cursed silently under his breath, but didn't let go. He again spoke softly. "Rey, do you even try and deal with stress? You've had a lot of shit happen lately. Kraya cries almost every night… she tries to hide it from me but I can tell." Pulling away enough to look down at Reyna, Dan explained. "I'm guessing Beckett told you about PTSD."

Reyna's encyclopedic mind spat it out amidst ragged breaths. "Post traumatic stress disorder… can appear as a variety of symptoms… primarily shows as nightmares and avoidance of stimuli." She scoffed in a half laugh. "I don't have PTSD, Dan… I don't know what this is."

"Like hell you don't. That's why you love funny movies, going out to the gardens, even watching me and Alicia fight." Dan reached down and wiped away one of Reyna's tears with his thumb. She moaned softly in embarrassment as she turned away. "You may not believe this, but I know you, Rey; you _don't_ deal with stress. You just bury it." Dan sighed and continued explaining what he'd found out. "It's funny, Rafaela told me you told her how people deal with stress.. talk about a doctor not taking her own advice."

Reyna chuckled, and wiped her eyes with the back of his wrist. She was sure her face was red with humiliation. "I just… I _don't_ cry like that. I don't know what I do." Breathing in a more controlled fashion, Reyna gulped. "What do you do? Besides fuck like a rabbit and drink like a fish?"

Dan snorted at the accusation, but he didn't deny it. "I weld, you've seen me. Takes my mind off things… helps me when I make something I can touch and see." He sighed again and shifted in his seat so Reyna could rest her head on his chest. "Leesh prays. She'd never admit it but she still believes in God. Guess it helps. I never went in for that stuff.

Pulling Reyna's head into a comforting position, Dan continued. "I heard Sheppard plays golf and video games. Just something to take his mind off all the shit he's been through. You wouldn't think it by looking at him but he's hard as fuck, Carter too. I don't know _what_ kind of hell they went through, but they must have dealt with it if they can even look at each other." He ruffled Reyna's hair in his fingers and mused. "They don't see as much constant shit as you do every day though. I dunno _how_ the fuck you docs deal with it."

Reyna continued hugging Dan, and after a few moments of thinking, said what she'd come to understand. "You know… if you were a little more human, I'd never let you go."

Dan laughed. He _really_ laughed with amusement. "Not the first time I've heard that."

Reyna smiled now, Dan had understood and even more, he agreed. They'd never be more than friends. They just were looking for diffent things. Dan wanted fun and stress relief. Reyna wanted more =Someone who wasn't a Traveler, and someone who wasn't Dan.

Dan sighed after a few moments, and then mused. "Guess you wanna stay huh?"

"If you don't mind."

"Course not."

Reyna rubbed her face as she pulled up from Dan's chest, and thought for a few moments. She could still feel the urge to cry, but Dan's solace was helping. It was strange. The man hardly felt a thing, but his loyalty was proving to be the support she needed right now. Something she'd heard earlier that week came to mind. "Dan?"

Dan had gotten up, and while turning off the TV looked back to Reyna who was sitting on the sofa. "Hmm?"

"I need to ask you a favor."

Dan gulped internally. People asking him favors usually led to bad places. "Uhhh… depends."

Reyna chuckled, and bowed her head into her hands. This was embarrassing, but it was the only logical way. "Remember when Aleron showed me that telepathy thing?"

"Yeah?"

"He said it worked for lesser evolved people too… but it has to be skin to skin contact."

Dan screwed his face in thought. "So you're asking me to… what?"

Reyna snickered to herself, it was a totally ridiculous notion, but it just might help her sleep through this bubbling pain. "I want us to sleep naked from the waist up."

_"Uhhh…"_Dan's look of shock was worth a picture, but Reyna didn't have one. If she had she would have called it "The Scream". Pity.

Reyna shook her head. "No silly, I'm not asking to fuck. I… I just want to feel someone close to me… and maybe if you really do care about me…in your own little twisted way…maybe you can help me feel better about this."

Dan gulped loudly. He obviously was caught off guard. "Uhhh… _sme'ce._ You do realize that's going to give me the worst case of blue balls imaginable right? That shit _hurts_. You know I snore too; you probably wouldn't be able to sleep. Hell, I'm already horny from Leesh's teasing, I might _fuck_ _you_ in my _sleep!_"

Reyna laughed, his excuses were ridiculous and she just had to get it out. "You'll be fine, I promise, you snore but no more than an engine on a ship, and you're always horny. I'll kick you if you try." She looked up at Dan and gave him a pleading face. "Please?"

Dan grit his teeth and looked away. "Aw for fuck's sakes… " He sighed and bowed his head. "Alright. But this better not become a habit."

Reyna shook her head, and wiped her eyes one last time. "It won't."

* * *

Alicia sat quietly with her legs crossed in the mess hall, her half eaten breakfast lay in front of her as she tried to read past the first chapter of the book John had lent her. Granted, she knew jack squat about Napoleon, but at least she could tell the book was well written. Twilight had been scary to read out of the simple fact that she _never_ wanted to reach a level of inconsistency like Belle Swan.

People milled about, a few recognizable faces such as Ashima or Roland giving slight nods. She spotted Daniel and Chuck having another of their little discussions, Chuck having become something akin to an assistant. Alicia had to scratch her head at how everyone's job had changed over time. She herself had never really considered herself a teacher, but the rest of the day was going to be spent teaching the Travelers and Settelrs who'd signed up to Ronon's army standard squad level tactics. Things like how to cover each other's backs, how to avoid friendly fire, and even how humor could help to ease tension.

She still didn't trust any of them to work with her, but the situation _was_ improving.

"Hey!"

Turning, Alicia saw Reyna heading towards her with just a bottle of juice. The Traveler doctor hated eating big meals as they always made her bloaty and Alicia chuckled at the thought. Alicia's idea of breakfast included at least some kind of farm animal. "Rey! Come on, sit with me."

Obviously that's what Reyna had in mind as she rounded the table and sat across from Alicia. "Feeling okay?"

Alicia nodded and tapped the top of her cane which leaned against the table. "I'm just keeping it handy in case I need to bludgeon someone."

Reyna raised and eyebrow as she uncapped her bottle. "You can't solve everything by hitting it Alicia."

Giving Reyna a devious grin, Alicia said. "I dunno… I can hit pretty hard." Emphasizing her point, Alicia made a fist so tight that her knuckles audibly cracked. "Bruce Lee. Gotta see if we have any of his movies for you to see.

Rolling her eyes, Reyna took a sip of her juice. Alicia noticed a slight hesitation and decided to tease. "You're kinda quiet. Drake didn't try anything last night did he?"

Momentarily choking, Reyna giggled softly and cleared her throat. "Oh _ancestors…_ Quite the opposite actually. He had to fight me off with his bare hands."

Alicia laughed out loud, Reyna had such a silly sense of humor. "I can _imagine."_

Reyna simply smiled softly, and then plucked the book from the table where Alicia had set it. "And what's this?"

Chewing her latest bite of some strange potato like hashbrown thing, Alicia muttered. "_Wah ah peas."_

Reading the cover instead, Reyna quickly thumbed through it. "It's long. Is there a movie version?"

Choking on her food from the laugh, Alicia was glad that Reyna was a doctor in case she couldn't dislodge it on her own.

* * *

"Hmm… I'd have to say that cute little rodent with the begging eyes is my favorite."

Walking through the hallways of Atlantis towards the transporter that would take each of them to their different destinations, Alicia and Reyna chatted about anything. What to do on their offhours, the different things Reyna wanted to experience that she'd either seen or heard in her study of Earth culture, and just now, deciding which of Alicia's plushy toys was her favorite.

Alicia stifled a snicker as they approached the transporter. "Oh god…It's _not_ a rat! It's the Taco Bell Chihuahua!" Seeing Reyna's confused face, she merely shook her head idly. "It's complicated, but that dog was the best marketing tool ever. Damn PC bullshit took him away from us."

Now Reyna was utterly confused. "Do you want me to recommend an anti-psychotic? I'm sure it'd help with these lapses."

Giving Reyna a playful shove, the pair got into a joking fight just as they reached the transporter. Alicia turned with a bright face to Reyna before entering. "So, you'll be there tonight? Just me and Rafa so far but I think Laura wants to come too. Girls night out."

Reyna nodded and waved open the transporter door. "Count me in. I've got a lot to do today but I'll make sure I make it." She turned to Alicia and after a moment of thinking, pulled the Major into a hug. "Thank you, Alicia."

A little surprised at the friendly expression, which quickly became evident wasn't _exactly _platonic given that Reyna wasn't letting go. Alicia returned the hug and patted her back. "Woah! Okay there… Love you too." Still trapped in Reyna's arms, Alicia realized something was off. "You sure you okay Rey?"

Reyna sighed at hearing the concern in her friends voice, she finally pulled away, but kept her hands on Alicia's surprisingly toned shoulders. "No… but I will be. Thank you." She leaned in to give Alicia another hug, and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

Leaving a dumbfounded Alicia, Reyna entered the transporter and flashed away towards the Hospital. Alicia chuckled softly to herself and shook her head idly. Reyna might be a little weird sometimes, but she certainly was a worthy friend.

* * *

Reyna stepped through the doors to the main hospital office where she was going to simply punch in and get to work, Carson was seated at his desk as was usual for him at this time, and lifted his head upon hearing the door slide open.

Reyna didn't see many people around, and walked right up to Carson. He said nothing but motioned for her to come closer. Reyna walked over to the punch clock, tapped in her five digit code, and then walked up to where Carson was "Do you need something?" Carson said nothing, but sighed. Reyna saw that they weren't on speaking terms yet, and nodded. "I'll get to work."

Carson reached over to grab his tea on the side of the desk. "Sit down Reyna… we need to talk."

Picking up her tablet from the desk, Reyna said nothing as she sat. She didn't _have_ to listen to Carson, but it might avoid problems. "What is it?"

Carson stared at Reyna dead in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

They both stayed silent, Reyna hadn't really been expecting that, and after a bit said. "Why?"

Carson shrugged. "For being a pig-headed oaf. For trying to force my principles onto you_"_

Reyna began to get up, ready to start her day and not wanting Carson to have to suffer too much. "I know… I'm sorry too."

Carson raised his hand and called out.. "Wait! Just, just wait a minute." He sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry I treated you badly, I'm _not_ sorry for my principles. But I need your help more than I need us to see things on the same level."

Reyna's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I see. You mean…?"

Palming his forehead, Carson simply groaned softly. "Yes… the time is coming and with this whole Olim fiasco… I'm going to need all the support I can get if I want to keep this city healthy." He looked up at Reyna. "If that means I need to break a few rules… well… maybe I break a few rules."

Reyna swallowed in slight hesitation; she knew exactly what Carson was talking _about_, but not what he had planned. "Why do you need my support? You're the head of the hospital."

Carson bowed his head and sighed. It had to be done. There was no other choice. "Because… what I have planned has the chance of hurting a lot of people… I want to be sure someone who knows the difference between hurting for a good cause, and hurting for… _other_ reasons will stand by me."

Reyna sat down again, and setting her laptop down, she nodded gently. "… I'll help. If it means we'll help who I think we'll be helping." She screwed her face in confusion. "But who'd be getting hurt? I don't understand."

Carson groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. This plan was insane, but it was the only thing left. "We're going to do what everyone on this city wants to do, Reyna. We're going to hurt the Olim."

* * *

**End of Episode 25.**

**_Episode Notes: _**_This episode was one of the slowest yet, but there was serious infodumping here. That's why it's also crammed with the Funneh to make it entertaining as well. _

_Of special note, my beta's had quite the mixed feelings about the Reyna/Dan scene at the end there. When I told **Neela** about it, she kinda cringed and didn't want to say anything without seeing it. Once she did though, she was surprised that she actually liked it._

**_Choo1701's_**_ lost all ability to feel anything (except for Morena Baccarin) so he was indifferent, though I'm pretty sure he didn't like it that much. You can blame him for the INSANITY that Ronon had to go through in the VR trainer :P_

**_TheIceMenace_**_ detests Dan, so she obviously hated it :P_

_There won't be many slow episodes like this, the next is a looong SG1 styled adventure. It's an extended episode because it kicked my ass so you guys get the benefit :)_

**Teaser for Episode 26 - Lighted Way**

**Ronon Dex:** "What do you miss from Earth?"

**Alicia Vega:** "Uhh…Well other than underwear that doesn't chafe, I guess I'd have to say… Pupusas."

**Ronon Dex:** "Poo-poos ass? That's uhh… sorry?"

**Alicia Vega:** "It's a food. It's kinda like a Spanish sandwich. Except it's usually fried and has meat, beans, even cheese thrown in. My mom used to make them all the time."

**Ronon Dex:** "Sounds like my kinda food."

* * *

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